The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) have raised concerns about the conversion of colleges of education to universities in Nigeria. They emphasized the crucial role these colleges play in producing teachers for the basic education sector.
During a national conference in Abuja, Arc. Sonny Echono of TETFund and Dr. Smart Olugbeko of COEASU expressed their reservations about this trend. Echono highlighted the need to focus on producing enough teachers for primary schools before converting colleges of education to universities.
Olugbeko cautioned against the negative consequences of neglecting colleges of education and urged the government to consider China’s model of converting universities to technical institutions. He also cited examples of other countries where teachers at the basic level earn more than tertiary level teachers.
It was noted that several colleges of education have already been converted to universities by the government, with more bills in the pipeline. This includes recent conversions in Kwara, Sokoto, Delta, and the approval by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to convert federal Colleges of Education to Universities of Education.
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